Americas

Materials from the Americas

Hiroshima Dreams

Lin can’t explain the knowledge she has of the future, of what people will say or what will happen. It’s a gift she shares with Obaasan, her grandmother, who has recently come from Japan to live with Lin’s family. But seeing the future is more than knowing whether or not a boy will call. What is Lin to make of the visions she has of a day long ago, when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima? Acclaimed author Kelly Easton’s poignant coming-of-age novel about a girl with psychic abilities is rich in imagery and memorable characters.

Sawdust Carpets

The Lau family travels to Antigua, Guatemala to visit their cousins. Although the Laus are Chinese and Buddhist, they adore the pageantry of Easter, and Easter in Antigua is exciting, with long, elaborate processions of penitents wreathed in incense and carrying colonial Spanish statues down the cobblestone streets of the city. The best part is seeing the elaborate carpets made of colored sawdust, which the processions walk over and destroy. On the morning of the most important procession, the heroine is invited to make her very own sawdust carpet. But why, she wonders, make something so beautiful, only to have it be ruined? Guatemalan and Chinese religious observances, dragon boat races and Easter processions, piñatas, baptisms, and Chinese tamales all weave in and out of this story, which celebrates beauty, religious celebration, and tolerance.

Caramba

Caramba is a fat, furry, striped cat with a big problem. “Every single cat in the world can fly,” he sighs, “except me!” Caramba would love to swoop and glide between the clouds, to feel the wind whistling through his fur. He tries to soar into the sky over and over again but always lands flat on his face, until finally he sadly accepts that he is earthbound. “Don’t be such a scaredy-cat,” cry his cousins. “All cats are meant to fly!” They grab his paws and whisk him up into the sky for an impromptu flying lesson that ends with a big splash and a surprising discovery.

Mama & Papa Have a Store

A young girl tells about a day in her family’s store and home in Guatemala City. Every day customers of many heritages—speaking Spanish, Chinese, and Mayan—come to buy cloth, buttons, and thread in colors like parrot green and mango yellow, and dozens of other items. While the girl’s parents and their friends talk about their hometown in China from where they emigrated many years ago, she and her siblings play games on the rooftop terrace, float paper boats, and make shadow puppets under the glow of flashlights. When the store closes, the girl dances to celebrate her day. Amelia Lau Carling’s thoroughly American children loved her childhood stories about Guatemala so much that she wrote them down for others.

The Closet Ghosts

With help from Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, Anu finds a way to cope with going to a new school, living in a new home, and even dealing with the mischievous ghosts in her closet.

Mediopollito: Cuento Tradicional en Espanol e Ingles/Half-Chicken: A Folktale in Spanish and English

Have you ever seen a weather vane? Do you know why there is a little rooster on the top, spinning around to tell us which way the wind is blowing? Here is the answer in this old, old story about a very special chicken. With only one eye, one leg, and one wing, Half-Chicken sets off to see the world. His adventures take him far and wide, until at last he’s carried straight to the top in this lively, humorous retelling, in Spanish and English, of a traditional folktale.

The Children of Bolivia (World’s Children)

Bolivia is home to two distinct native cultures the Aymara and the Quechua as well as mestizos, blacks, and Europeans. Lifestyle is determined in large part by whether one dwells in one of the large cities like La Paz or Santa Cruz, or in rural areas like the forested Yungas or Amazon Basin. In this largely pictorial book that focuses on children living in the different regions, some of this information is specifically stated.